The U.S. state of California is set to close the final two areas of its commercial Dungeness crab fishery following a confirmed case of a humpback whale becoming entangled in gear from the fishery.
“On 13 June 2025, I evaluated entanglement risk for the commercial Dungeness crab fisheries,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton Bonham said in a memo. “Upon evaluation of the management considerations pursuant to [state law], I have determined that the management action listed below protects humpback whales based on the best available science.”
Commercial fishing in zones 1 and 2 will end at 6 p.m. on 20 June.
The final closures comes shortly after a confirmed humpback whale entanglement. On 7 June, a juvenile humpback whale was reported entangled in two sets of California Dungeness crab fishing gear northwest of Eureka. According to NGO Oceana, four humpback whales have been entangled off the California coast since March 2025; California Dungeness crab gear was found and confirmed in two of the incidents.
“The distressing entanglement of a young whale off Northern California underscores the urgent need for more protective measures and expanding the use of pop-up fishing gear,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Scientist Francine Kershaw said in a statement. “Pop-up fishing gear can allow whales and fishers to safely coexist and create a whale-safe seafood choice for Californians.”
Confirmed entanglements require CDFW to either close the Dungeness crab fishery or take protective actions. State regulators closed the three southernmost fishing areas – zones 1 to 3 – in April after a large number of whales were spotted in the region. Zone 4 was closed later that month.
Early closures and delayed starts due to the presence of whales are a regular part of California’s management of its Dungeness crab fishery. The 2024-2025 season was delayed multiple weeks because of whales in the area; the state only partially opened the southern fishing areas on 5 January, with the remaining zones opened on 15 January.
Both NRDC and Oceana pointed to the latest whale entanglement as a reason for the state to adopt more proactive measures to prevent entanglements, such as shortening the commercial season to end before whales are spotted in abundance and devoting more support to alternative pop-up gear.
“This unfortunate news of another humpback whale entangled in Dungeness crab gear dispels the narrative that whales don’t get entangled off Northern California,” Oceana Campaign Manager and Marine Scientist Caitlynn Birch said in a statement. “It is time to learn from these tragic entanglements, many of which could have been avoided. California must create a new management system where a fixed short winter season using vertical lines is followed by a springtime transition to successfully proven pop-up gear that keeps fishermen on the water while avoiding whales.”
By dispensing with the vertical lines that whales can be entangled in, pop-up gear can reduce the risk to whales. There are currently 18 commercial fishers who will be harvesting crab using pop-up gear under an experimental permit. Fishers who participated in the program last year reported success, prompting California regulators to expand the program.
“The pop-ups worked, and we brought home every trap that we set,” Steve Melz, a crab fisherman from Half Moon Bay, California, said in a testimonial about the 2024 pilot program. “The whole test is a complete success: Crabbing in the spring again in front of home, no dirty buoys to clean, you never go to the wrong end of the string and not to mention the better price that is paid for the crabs.”
According to CDFW, fishers using pop-up gear have harvested 139,845 pounds of crab since 22 April for a total ex-vessel value of nearly USD 1 million (EUR 864,659).
